01/09/2009

Five majority and five minority French productions will vie for the Golden Lion at the 66th Venice Film Festival, which opens tomorrow.

Contenders include Jacques Rivette’s French/Italian co-production 36 Views of Saint-Loup Peak [+see also:
film review
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film profile] (news). Patrice Chéreau also returns to the Venice competition (after Gabrielle [+see also:
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film profile] in 2005) with Persécution [+see also:
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film profile] (news), starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Romain Duris.

Claire Denis also makes her second appearance in the race for the Golden Lion (after The Intruder [+see also:
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Also in competition are two other majority French productions: Belgian director Jaco van Dormael’s Mr. Nobody [+see also:
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interview: Jaco Van Dormael
interview: Jaco Van Dormael
film profile] (interview - produced by Pan-Européenne) and Between Two Worlds by Sri-Lanka’s Vimukthi Jayasundara (produced by Les Films Hatari and co-produced by Unlimited).

Minority co-productions in competition include Austrian director Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes [+see also:
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interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile] (co-produced by Société Parisienne de Production and Arte France Cinéma), whose cast features Sylvie Testud, Léa Seydoux and Bruno Todeschini; Lebanon by Israel’s Samuel Maoz (co-produced by Arsam International); Iranian/US director Shirin Neshat’s Women Without Men [+see also:
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film profile] (Parisienne de Production); and two Italian/French titles: Giuseppe Tornatore’s Baarìa [+see also:
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Screening out of competition are Yona Yona Penguin by Japan’s Rintaro (co-produced by Denis Friedman Productions) and Green Days by Hana Makhmalbaf (co-produced by Wild Bunch). Meanwhile, the Horizons section will show one majority production (the documentary The Dance: Paris Opera Ballet) and two minority films: Tunisian director Raja Amari’s La Berceuse (“Lullaby”, co-produced by Les Films d'Ici), featuring Hafsia Herzi; and Adrift by Vietnam’s Thac Chuyen Bui (co-produced by Acrobates Films).

Venice Days will present Claude and Nathan Miller’s I’m Glad That My Mother Is Alive [+see also:
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film profile] (news); Merzak Allouache’s French/Algerian feature Harragas [+see also:
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film profile] by Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher(news); Léa Fehner’s Silent Voice [+see also:
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interview: Qu'un seul tienne et les au…
film profile] (produced by Rezo); Daniel Monzón’s Spanish/French co-production Cell 211 [+see also:
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interview: Daniel Monzón
film profile] (La Fabrique de Films); and Sherry Hormann’s Desert Flower [+see also:
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film profile] (co-produced by Bac Films).

Finally, Venice Critics’ Week has selected Patric Chiha’s Domaine [+see also:
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(Translated from French)